We use cookies to enhance your experience on our website. By continuing to use our website, you are agreeing to our use of cookies. You can change your cookie settings at any time.ContinueFind out more

Definition of frazzle in English:

frazzle

verb

[WITH OBJECT]informal

1as adjective frazzledCompletely exhausted:

‘a frazzled parent’

‘The damage is compounded by the loss of attention from frazzled parents trying to rebuild their lives.’

‘In homes where these fragrant creatures appeared on the doorstep, Mary Poppins style, to drag a frazzled mother away from childcaring business, the Avon Lady was a mysterious and most welcome caller.’

‘This is hardly a calming thought for a frazzled office worker seeking a sandwich in their lunch break, never mind a working mother of four trying to buy 36 presents before the shops close.’

‘She's certainly dressed for the part, in a jumper and a tatty leather coat, sipping her studenty tea and smoking her studenty Marlboro Lights like any other slightly frazzled third year.’

‘This is the same little demon who kept Red and her frazzled husband up for four hours the night before refusing to sleep.’

‘It is used to torment many a couple still, who usually are both feeling frazzled and self conscious, and who are NOT thinking about bussing big kisses at all!’

‘I'd just like to reassure the paper's staff that it's nothing personal - I've simply been too busy to do anything other than type out the frazzled contents of my mind.’

‘Some have argued that the upshot of this is the emasculated man, unable to assert himself in his relationship, and also of the frazzled, controlling matriarch, who feels under pressure and under-appreciated.’

‘The latter is definitely the kind of place you can imagine frazzled executives escaping to as they float on a spume of hot bubbles.’

‘On the ground beneath, the frazzled reporters she left behind could only scratch their heads - in amazement and, of course, relief.’

‘I'm enjoying the couple of days of great sunshine, cycling around a bit, but I'm kind of frazzled and burnt-out too.’

‘Bored kids and frazzled adults were clustered in every corner and a dangerous-looking scrum had formed by the main door.’

‘For the frazzled chef, relocating to a suburban or rural setting can be a lifestyle choice as much as it is an economic one.’

‘Politely, he greets a room full of frazzled reporters, the pressure of deadlines denying any chance of conversation.’

‘Sitting in the library in UCD one morning, she encountered a frazzled and frustrated fellow-student.’

‘A clunking old metal elevator struggled to make its way to the ground floor, then grudgingly opened its doors to allow myself and a frazzled woman to embark.’

‘It is still a convertible though and, because my fly-away hair has mostly flown away, I have a huge savannah of slaphead which frazzles like pork scratchings after even a glimpse of sun.’

‘The heritage railway is now faced with the task of replacing all of the electrical items in the station, which were frazzled by the bolt of lightning.’

‘Nothing to do with cafes putting their plastic tables out on the pavement pretending they are serving by the Mediterranean, or bars running dry of ice as global warming frazzles the throats of the thirsty.’

‘From primitive men who shoved bones in their locks to impress their enemies to Francis I of France who, after accidentally frazzling his hair with a torch, set off a ‘hot’ new craze for short hair-styles.’

‘Why wait two thousand years to see a black blob on the sun - you'll only frazzle your eyeballs in the process - why do you think all those iron age astronomers went blind?’

noun

‘If you're not careful, your high speed majors will work their people to a frazzle to get that last 5 percent of polish on the quarterly training brief or the command and staff slides.’

‘She and her husband have an organization consisting mostly of young people who clean up the city's public spaces, and they used the snaggers we sold them, and wore them to a frazzle, and bought a lot more.’

‘To those who fell victim to my Friday night frazzle, as recipients of either the maudlin or irrationally ranting and offensive, please help yourself to the usual ameliorations and apologies from the box in the corner.’

‘As he didn't want Tanj worn to a frazzle, he directed her to gather ‘reinforcements‘.’

‘When they finally reached the station Kit was worn to a frazzle.’

‘She improvised, created and worked her vocal chords to a frazzle, dashed home and prepared dinner for the intellectuals who came repeatedly to Mrs Berio's table.’

‘Worrying about the kid already had him worn to a frazzle.’

‘To find out what Dublin can offer as an antidote to 21st century frazzle, I popped into the National Gallery where I found the resident experts full of ideas on the subject.’

‘One can worry oneself to a frazzle if one wants but it helps to be aware of what might take place.’

‘They figured that all men in the western hemisphere would be worn to a frazzle because they would try to watch all the matches (which all show in the wee hours of the morning) AND go to work too.’

‘Usually, when you're on the trail for a year or maybe even two years sometimes, you really get worn down to a frazzle.’

2The state of being completely burnt:

‘the grass was regrowing within days of being burnt to a frazzle’

‘On it, the frazzled remains of some poor beast were nicely complemented by rosti so thick and chewy it bore a strong resemblance to gardening twine.’

‘Her pulsating energy is normally symbolised by a frazzle of electrocuted hair.’

‘It will then turn into a swollen red giant, burning to a frazzle any life left here on Earth.’

‘I hope never again to encounter the likes of Oysters O'Rourke, Rockefeller variants in which the shellfish had been chopped up and cooked to a frazzle.’

Origin

Early 19th century: perhaps a blend of fray and obsolete fazle ‘ravel out’, of Germanic origin. The word was originally East Anglian dialect; it came into standard British English via the US.